List of English words containing Q not followed by U

Six rows of black square keys with white letters, numbers, and symbols on them slope from the top left to the bottom right with a metallic strip in the top right corner.

QWERTY, one of the few native English words with Q not followed by U, is derived from the first six letters of a standard keyboard layout.

In English, the letter Q is almost always followed immediately by the letter U, e.g. quiz, quarry, question, squirrel. However, there are some exceptions. The majority of these are anglicised from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Inuktitut, or other languages that do not use the English alphabet, with Q often representing a sound not found in English. For example, in the Chinese pinyin alphabet, qi is pronounced (similar to "chi" in English) by an English speaker, as pinyin uses "q" to represent the sound , which is approximated as Template:IPAblink (ch) in English. In other examples, Q represents Template:IPAblink in standard Arabic, such as in qat and faqir. In Arabic, the letter ق, traditionally romanised as Q, is quite distinct from ك, traditionally romanised as K; for example, means "heart" but means "dog". However, alternative spellings are sometimes accepted, which use K (or sometimes C) in place of Q; for example, Koran (Qur'ān) and Cairo (al-Qāhira).

Of the words in this list, most are (or can be) interpreted as nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords. However, all of the loanwords on this list are considered to be naturalised in English according to at least one major dictionary (see Template:Section link), often because they refer to concepts or societal roles that do not have an accurate equivalent in English. For words to appear here, they must appear in their own entry in a dictionary; words that occur only as part of a longer phrase are not included.

Proper nouns are not included in the list. There are, in addition, many place names and personal names, mostly originating from Arabic-speaking countries, Albania, or China, that have a Q without a U. The most familiar of these are the countries of Iraq and Qatar, along with the derived words Iraqi and Qatari. Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, also has a Q that is not directly followed by a U. Qaqortoq, in Greenland, is notable for having three such Qs. Other proper names and acronyms that have attained the status of English words include Compaq (a computer company), Nasdaq (a US electronic stock market), Uniqlo (a Japanese retailer), Qantas (an Australian airline), and QinetiQ (a British technology company). Saqqara (an ancient burial ground in Egypt) is a proper noun notable for its use of a double Q.

Words

Unless noted otherwise, all words listed here are assumed to be pluralized by adding -s or -es. References in the "Sources" column relate to the headword in column one; variant spellings are then separately referenced. The sources given are selective, and the absence of a reference to a particular dictionary does not necessarily mean that the word does not appear in that dictionary.

In American and Canadian English, there are currently 4,422 words with Q not followed by U including the following words in the table below.

Template:Sronly

Word	Meaning	Sources	Other forms	Etymology
bianqing	An ancient Chinese percussion instrument	[MW]		Template:Lang-zh
buqsha	A former Yemeni monetary unit	[L]	Also written bogache	Arabic
burqa	A veiled garment worn by some Muslim women	[ODE][LC][C][AHC][OED]	Also written burka, burkha, or burqua	Urdu and Persian Template:Transliteration, from Arabic Template:Transliteration
cinq	The number five, as signified in dice or cards	[ODE][COD][OED]		French 'five'
cinqfoil	A plant of the genus Potentilla, or an ornamental design thereof	[SOED][OED]	Much more commonly written cinquefoil	Middle English, from Latin , from 'five' + 'leaf'
coq	A trimming of cock feathers on a woman's hat	[WI]		French 'cockerel'
faqih	An Islamic jurisprudent	[RHW]	Plural faqihs or fuqaha [RHU]	Arabic
faqir	A Muslim ascetic	[L]	More commonly written fakir	Arabic 'poverty-stricken'
fiqh	Muslim jurisprudence	[ODE]		Arabic 'understanding'
inqilab	A revolution in India or Pakistan	[C]		Arabic
jelq	Manual penis enlargement exercise		Is also a verb. Derived words include jelqs, jelqed and jelqing	Persian 'masturbation, onanism'
mbaqanga	A style of South African music	[ODE][C][W]		Zulu 'steamed maize bread'
miqra	The Tanakh, or Hebrew text of the Bible	[WI]		Hebrew
muqaddam	A Bangladeshi or Punjabi headman	[C]		Arabic
nastaliq	An Arabic script used in Persian writings	[OED]	Also written nasta'liq [C], nestaliq [OED], nastaleeq, or shortened to just taliq [OED]	Persian Template:Nastaliq, from Template:Transliteration + Template:Transliteration
niqab	A veil for the lower-face worn by some Muslim women	[ODE]	Also written niqaab	Arabic from
nuqta	Diacritic mark		Also written nukta
pontacq	A sweet wine from Pontacq (France)	[OED]		French
q	Q or q, the 17th letter of the modern English alphabet	[MW]		Greek or Latin
qabab	A dish consisting of pieces of seasoned meat	[OED]	More commonly written kebab, kebap, kebob, kibob, kebhav, kephav, kebabie, or kabob	Persian
qabalah	A form of Jewish mysticism	[C][AHC][WI]	More commonly written Kabbalah, and also written Qabala [AHC], Qabbala [WI], Cabalah etc. Derived words include qabalism, qabalist, and qabalistic.	Hebrew
qadarite	A member of the Qadariyah	[RHU]
qadariyah	In Islam, adherents of the doctrine of free will	[RHU]	Also written Qadariya [RHU]	Arabic
qaddish	In Judaism, a prayer of mourning	[C]	More commonly written Kaddish	Hebrew
qadi	A Muslim judge	[L][C][W][OED][AOX]	Also written qadhi [OED], qaadi, kadi, kazi qaadee or qazi [OED]	Arabic o
qadiriyah	In Islam, a Sufi order	[RHU]	Also written Qadiriya [RHU]	Arabic
qaf	Template:Script/Arabic, the twenty-first letter of the Arabic alphabet	[RHW]	Also written qaph or qap	Arabic
qaid	A Muslim tribal chief	[RHW]	Also written caid or kaid	Arabic , 'leader', 'commander'
qaimaqam	A minor official of the Ottoman Empire	[C][OED]	Also written kaymakam, kaimakam, caimacam, or qaim makam	Arabic from 'standing' + 'place', meaning 'standing in place'
qalamdan	A Persian writing-case	[C]		Persian
qalandar	A member of an order of mendicant dervishes	[RHU]	Also written calender, or capitalised
qanat	A type of water-supply tunnel found in north Africa and the Middle East	[ODE][C][OED][AOX]	Also written kanat, khanat, kunut, kona, konait, ghanat, or ghundat	Persian, from Arabic Template:Transliteration 'channel'
qanun	A type of harp	[OED]	Also written qanon or kanun [OED]	Arabic , rule, principle or mode
qasida	An Arabian poem of praise or satire	[C][OED][AOX]	Also written qasidah	Arabic
qat	A kind of Arabian shrub used as a narcotic	[L][C][OED]	More commonly written khat, kat or gat	Arabic Template:Transliteration
qawwal	A person who practices qawwali music	[ODE][C][AOX]
qawwali	Devotional music of the Sufis	[ODE][C][AOX]		Arabic (Template:Transliteration) 'loquacious' or 'singer'
qere	A marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible	[OED][WI]	Also written qeri [WI] or qre [WI]	Aramaic , '[what is] read'
qhat	An obsolete spelling of what	[OED]		Likely of Scots origin, in which an older spelling convention used "quh-" or "qh-" where English had "wh-".
qheche	An obsolete spelling of which	[OED]
qhom	An obsolete spelling of whom	[OED]
qhythsontyd	An obsolete spelling of Whitsuntide (the day of Pentecost)	[OED]
qi	In Chinese culture, a physical life force	[ODE][C][AHC][OED]	Commonly written chi or ki	Template:Lang-zh
qiana	A type of nylon	[OED]		Originally a trademark of DuPont, now generic
qibla	The point to which Muslims turn in prayer	[ODE][COD][C][OED][AOX]	Also written qiblah [OED], kiblah, qiblih, kibla or qib'lah [RHU], sometimes capitalised	17th-century Arabic for 'the opposite'
qibli	A local Libyan name for the sirocco, a southeasterly Mediterranean wind	[OED]	Also written ghibli	Arabic , "coming from the qibla
qid	Four times a day	[MW]		Latin quater in die
qigong	A Chinese system of medical exercises	[ODE][C][AOX]	Also written chi gong, ki gong, or chi kung	Template:Lang-zh
qin	A classification of Chinese musical instruments	[AOX]		Template:Lang-zh
qinah	A Hebrew elegy	[WI]	Also written kinah; plural kinnot, qinot, qinoth and qindarkë	Hebrew
qindar	An Albanian unit of currency, equal to one one-hundredth of a lek	[ODE][L][C]	Plural qindarka [L] or qindars [C]. Also written qintar [L][C][AOX] or quintal	Albanian
qing	A Chinese chime	[MW]	Also written as: ch'ing	Template:Lang-zh
qinghaosu	A drug, artemisinin, used to treat malaria	[C]		Template:Lang-zh
qingsongite	A rare mineral found in China.		Plural qingsongites	named after geologist Qingsong Fang
qinter	An Albanian money system	[OED]		Albanian
qipao	A traditional Chinese dress	[OED]	Also written chi pao	Template:Lang-zh
qiran	A currency of Iran between 1825 and 1932	[MW]	Also written as: kran	Persian Template:Transliteration
qirsh	A monetary unit of Saudi Arabia and, formerly, various other countries	[RHU]	Also written qurush, qursh, gursh, girsh or ghirsh	Arabic
qiviut	The wool of the musk-ox	[OED]		Inuktitut
qix	A puzzle video game	[NA]		Inuktitut
qiyas	An analogy in Sharia, Islamic law	[RHW]		Arabic
qoph	The nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet	[L][C]	Also written koph	Hebrew
qorma	A type of curry	[Co]	Much more commonly written korma	Persian→Urdu
QWERTY	A standard English keyboard layout	[ODE][COD][LC][C][AOX][OED]	Plural qwertys or qwerties; also rendered QWERTY	Named after the first letters on the top row of the QWERTY keyboard layout.
Qyrghyz	Variant spelling of the people of Kyrgyzstan	[MW]	More commonly spelled Kyrgyz.
rencq	An obsolete spelling of rank	[OED]		Scots
sambuq	A type of dhow, a small Arabian boat	[OED]		Arabic
sheqel	A unit of weight originally used in Mesopotamia. The currency of Israel, divided into 100 agorot	[MW]	Plural sheqels or sheqalim; more commonly written shekel	Hebrew , Yiddish
souq	An Arab marketplace	[ODE][C][OED][AOX]	Also written sooq, soq, suq, souk, esouk, or suk	Arabic (Template:Transliteration)
talaq	A form of Islamic divorce	[ODE][C][OED]		Arabic (Template:Transliteration), from Template:Transliteration 'repudiate'
taluq	An Indian estate	[OED]	Also written taluk or talook	Arabic→Urdu (Template:Transliteration) 'connection', 'relationship'
taluqdar	A person who collects the revenues of a taluq	[OED]	Also written talukdar or talookdar	Arabic→Urdu (Template:Transliteration) 'landholder', 'possessor of an estate', 'lord of a manor'
taluqdari	An Indian landholding tenure	[OED]
taqiya	Concealing faith in Islam due to fear of persecution	[RHW]	Also written taqiyah [RHU], or capitalised	Arabic
taqlid	Acceptance of Muslim orthodoxy	[RHW]		Arabic
tariqa	A Sufi method of spiritual development, or a Sufi missionary	[E][AOX]	Also written tariqat [E] or tarika	Arabic
tranq	Tranquilizer (sedative)	[OED]	Also written trank [OED]	Apocopation from tranquilizer
tsaddiq	In Judaism, a title for a righteous person	[C][OED]	Plural tsaddiqs or tsaddiqim; also written tzaddiq [C], tzadik or tzaddik	Hebrew
umiaq	An open Inuit boat	[OSPD4]	Also spelled umiak, umialak, umiac, oomiac or oomiak	Inuit
waqf	A charitable trust in Islamic law	[ODE][C][OED]	Also written wakf; plural waqf [ODE][C][OED] or waqfs [C][OED]	Arabic, literally 'stoppage' from Template:Transliteration, 'come to a standstill'
xiangqi	Chess variant native to China			Template:Lang-zh
xiqin	Traditional Chinese bowed string musical instrument			Template:Lang-zh
yangqin	A trapezoidal Chinese hammered dulcimer	[C]		Template:Lang-zh
yaqona	A Fijian intoxicating beverage, kava	[C][OED]		Fijian , in which q represents

Uses in Scrabble

Template:Globalise section In many word games, notably in Scrabble, a player must build a word using a certain set of letters. If a player is obliged to use a q, but does not have a u, it may be possible to play words from this list. Not all words in this list are acceptable in Scrabble tournament games. Scrabble tournaments around the world use their own sets of words from selected dictionaries that might not contain all the words listed here.

Qi is the most commonly played word in Scrabble tournaments, and was added to the official North American word list in 2006.

Other words listed in this article, such as suq, umiaq or qiviut, are also acceptable, but since these contain a u, they are less likely to be useful in the situation described.

List of dictionaries cited

• [AH]:
• [AHC]:
• [AOX]:
• [C]:
• [Co]:
• [COD]:
• [E]:
• [L]:
• [LC]:
• [MW]:
• [MWO]:
• [ODE]:
• [OED]:
• [OSPD4]:
• [RHU]:
• [RHW]:
• [SOED]:
• [TWL]:
• [W]:
• [WI]:

See also

• Constrained writing
• English words without vowels

Bibliography

• Scrabble Word Lists Q without U – Parker Brothers, attributed to: